Following CRA proposal, agency plans about 160 evaluations in 4Q18, 1Q19

About 160 banks and savings associations are scheduled to be evaluated for community reinvestment during the fourth quarter of this year and the first quarter of the new year, the federal regulator of national banks said Wednesday.

Scheduled CRA evaluations, by state, by OCC for 4Q18, 1Q19 (Source: OCC)

According to a tally of the banks and thrifts to be evaluated for compliance with the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA), published by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), more than half (52%) are in seven states: Texas (18, for 11% of all the banks to be evaluated over the two quarters), Illinois (18, 11%), New York (12, 8%), Ohio (10, 6%), Kansas (9, 6%), Minnesota (9, 6%), and Pennsylvania (7, 4%).

The CRA evaluation schedule comes on the heels of yesterday’s call by the OCC for comments on the best ways to modernize the regulatory framework implementing the anti-redlining CRA law, through an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR).

The agency issued the long-waited call for comments, it said, to determine how to modernize the regulations, based on the law adopted in 1977. The agency said modernization of the rules would strive to “better achieve the statute’s original purpose, increase lending and investment where it is needed most, and reduce the burden associated with reporting and assessing CRA performance.”

The ANPR will be open for a 75-day comment period, OCC said.

OCC Issues Fourth Quarter 2018 and First Quarter 2019 CRA Evaluation Schedule